Coimbatore now ready for an on-street parking management system

The preparation of an on-street parking management strategy is in process for the city of Coimbatore (India) by ICLEI South Asia, with support from the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration, Government of Tamil Nadu and under the Shakti Sustainable energy foundation funded ‘Framework for Tamil Nadu state urban transport policy’ project.

Parking is considered one of the major transport issues in urban areas. To overcome this challenge, effective management of on-street parking is required in order to claim the road space - which is currently over utilised by motor vehicles - and convert them to efficient public spaces, like provision of footpaths, cycle tracks and hawker zones. The on-street parking management strategy being devised by ICLEI South Asia, in partnership with ITDP India, will help Coimbatore City Corporation to address the parking issues that prevail in the city; the document includes recommendations on better management of parking demand and supply, regulations on highly congested streets, methodology to implement phase wise on-street parking management and effective pricing strategy for on-street parking, which is free of cost at present.

ICLEI South Asia, under the ‘Framework for Tamil Nadu state urban transport policy’ project, has been working towards providing support to the Indian cities of Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy, Salem and Tiruppur to help them understand the mobility issues at city level, and to provide continuous advice in the preparation of transport proposals that will gradually resolve their specific transport issues. Coimbatore has identified Parking and Non Motorised Transport as the critical issues that need to be addressed as a first step towards resolving its larger transport issues like public transport system etc.